


Out of Darkness

by ImpishTubist



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Star Trek: Into Darkness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-06-29 09:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15726963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpishTubist/pseuds/ImpishTubist
Summary: Alone in the hospital after the events ofInto Darkness, Jim has too much time to think.





	Out of Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Story comes from a prompt given to me on Tumblr by @marcceh, and you can also find a version of this fic there. The prompt was to use the following dialogue for any 'ship: "I’m not going to leave. I’ll stay as long as you need me to."

He hates the way this place smells, because it smells like  _nothing_. The air is noticeably odorless, Starfleet Medical trying too hard to make sure it doesn’t smell like a hospital. Jim shifts on the bed, looking for and failing to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Not that he’s done any of that since waking from his two-week coma, and once again the thought crosses his mind:  _Is Khan’s blood doing this to me?_

He can’t help but wonder about it with each sleepless night that passes. He feels fine each morning–not  _awake_ , per se, but alert and no worse for wear. He can hear conversations from down the corridor clear as day, and he wonders if this wing has particularly good acoustics, or if it’s the blood he's been injected with. And then there’s his sudden sensitivity to smells, absent or not. Have his senses been heightened by the augmented human’s blood, or are the days spent in this hospital bed with nothing to do causing him to overanalyze the situation?

He sees precious little of Bones, and he’s not sure if he’s grateful for that or not. A little distraction would be a welcome relief, but Leonard is a member of his crew, half of whom are now dead, and they’re all he can think of when he looks at his lover. Under normal circumstances, he’d have welcomed a visit from any of the senior staff, would have put up with them seeing him like this just to take his mind off the thoughts racing around his brain, but they, too, would be reminders of his terrible blunder. And then there’s Pike, who three years ago Jim had visited in this same hospital, who would be at Jim’s side an instant if he asked–-but Jim can’t ask that of him anymore, never will again.

The door opens, cutting through his thoughts, and it’s Leonard. Out of uniform, so he must be off-duty. He closes the door and engages the privacy lock, then draws the curtain around Jim’s bed.

“Hey, darlin’.” They kiss, briefly, and then Leonard straightens. “Saw on the vitals screen at the nurses’ station that you were still awake. Thought I’d check on you.”

“Still breathing,” Jim quips–-or tries, but agony crosses Leonard’s features, and he’s instantly guilty. “Shit, Bones, I -”

“It’s fine.” Leonard covers Jim’s hands with his own. They’re warm against Jim’s chilled fingers. “Yes, you’re breathing and alive. I’ll take that any day. We’ll figure out this insomnia thing soon, I promise.”

“S’all right. Maybe I’m a vampire now.”

“Vampires  _do_ sleep,” Leonard points out.

“Damn it, and here I had a  _really_ good joke about sucking you -”

“You do realize that everything said in this room is closely monitored by the security office, right?” Leonard points out in exasperation. “They’re not taking any chances with high-ranking members of Starfleet, not after - everything.”

It’s effective enough to kill the tentatively lighthearted mood, and Leonard knows it. He sighs, pulls up a chair, and takes Jim’s hand.

“How’re you feeling?” he asks quietly. “Honestly, Jim.”

“I’m fine.”

“Jim.”

“I hurt,” Jim says forcefully, which wasn’t what he meant to say at all, but it’s out now. He sighs. “I  _hurt_ , Len. How can I face them after this?”

“The crew doesn’t blame you.”

“They should,” Jim snaps, inexplicably angry. He closes his eyes and draws a deep breath. “Damn it, Bones, they  _should_. I’m their captain.”

“That’s right,” Leonard says firmly. “You’re their captain. You, Jim, and no one else. They’ll follow you to hell and back.”

“One could argue that they already did.” Jim opens his eyes again, unaccountably fatigued, knowing that he can’t slip off into the welcoming oblivion of sleep. He glances at the clock. “When do you need to leave?”

Leonard’s hands tightens on his. “I’m not going to leave.”

“No?”

“No.” Leonard shakes his head. “I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”

Jim’s eyes burn suddenly. He blinks rapidly, trying to clear his vision.

“I’ll need you forever, Bones,” he whispers.

Leonard gets up from the chair so that he can lean over Jim and kiss him soundly.

“You have me forever, Jim.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, readers! I apologize for my lengthy absence on here, but I've been focusing my time and writing energy in recent months to getting something original published. Feel free to follow me on Tumblr, where you can prompt me fanfic-y things like this or listen to me complain about writing and the querying process: impishtubist.tumblr.com.


End file.
